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Residents press Angels Camp council for fire-readiness review and water-pressure assessment
Summary
Public commenters urged the Angels Camp City Council to order an in-depth review of the city’s ability to fight large, multi-structure fires, including hydrant pressure and mutual-aid water-sharing across Calaveras, Amador and Tuolumne counties.
Lance Frankie, a resident of Angels Camp, asked the City Council on Jan. 21 for an in-depth assessment of the city’s fire-suppression capacity in the event of a widespread, multi-structure conflagration.
Frankie told the council he was “concerned, how prepared we might be” and asked that the review include equipment, firefighting capabilities and “an assessment of water pressure delivery to our fire hydrants,” noting problems similar to recent Southern California incidents where multiple simultaneous structure fires strained water systems.
The request drew additional public comment. Patricia Harkins, another resident, asked council members to consider neighborhood egress where older areas have only one exit and said those constraints could trap residents in a large fire.
Steve (staff member) said he had met with utility and water-agency managers and that a multi-agency meeting of water managers from Tuolumne, Calaveras and Amador counties had been scheduled to discuss cross-jurisdictional water support and maintaining adequate pressure during emergencies. "I was invited to a meeting of a majority of the water agencies...to see what are the capabilities of the separate water systems that we all have within these three counties," he said, adding the meeting was expected within the next two weeks and staff would report back.
Mayor (name not specified in transcript) asked staff to follow up; the council did not take formal action at the meeting beyond directing staff to work with partners and report back.
The council and staff also noted the city relies on CAL FIRE for mutual-aid responses and that the risk of ember-driven ignitions in areas of vegetation adjacent to city boundaries is an active concern. Residents asked the city to include vulnerable neighborhoods and single-exit streets in any assessment and to evaluate signage, evacuation routes and on-the-ground maintenance issues that could affect evacuations.
The discussion concluded with staff saying they would coordinate with county and regional water agencies and return to the council with findings and potential next steps.
